Saturday, August 15, 2009

Durham Bulls Lose 9-5 To Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees

A five-run third inning off Durham starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine doomed the Bulls as they got outslugged by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, losing 9-5 Friday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The Bulls took a 2-1 lead in the first with a Rhyne Hughes’ RBI single and a fielder’s choice BY Ray Olmedo, scoring Akinori Iwamura from third.

The Yankees took over in the third inning, plating five runs off six hits, including two doubles, to take a 6-2 lead.

Both teams exchanged runs in the fourth with the Bulls tally coming on a Brignac single to right scoring Henry Mateo from second, making the score 7-3.

Sonnanstine (4-2) was pulled after five innings of work, allowing seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits while striking out five.

The Bulls were able to pull with in two runs in the bottom of the fifth after Olmedo reached first on a fielding error, scoring Jon Weber. That was followed by a John Jaso single to right, scoring Chris Richard.

Scranton/W-B put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth when Juan Miranda took Winston Abreau’s first offering deep into the seats in right for a two-run bomb. The Bulls failed to come back in their half of the ninth as they lost the first game in their four-game series with the Yankees.

Both teams will face off again for Game 2 of the series Saturday with righty Jeremy Hellickson (2-1) taking the mound for the Bulls against lefty Kei Igawa (9-5) with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.